Revenge
by reppad98
Summary: AU in which Ash completely defeated Team Rocket during the events with Mewtwo. But Giovanni escaped, and now Ash has to face the wrath of the man he took everything from. One-shot. PokeShipping. My entry for Empress Empoleon and The Light's Refrain's final challenge on the PokeWrite forum.


**A/N:** Hey there, and thank you for clicking on this story! I hope you enjoy it!

This story is my entry for Empress Empoleon and The Light's Refrain's final challenge on the PokeWrite forum. The challenge was to write a story, didn't matter about what or how long it was, as long as it incorporated three prompts. Mine were the word 'bedroom', the phrase you need to know and the quote "Brave captain, why are the wicked so strong? How do the angels get to sleep when the devil leaves the porch light on?" from Tom Waits. I used the word and phrase literally in my fic, but the quote was shortened and changed, and I mostly just tried to get the feel of it in my story.

Anyway, this is what it turned out to be, so go on and read it, and I hope you like it!

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon or the picture used as cover.**

* * *

**Revenge**

"You need to know," the strange woman whispered, "that he will stop at nothing. _Nothing_. He will destroy you, rip you apart shred by shred and then leave you to burn."

Too shocked to reply, he was silent, and she took his silence as her cue to continue. "You took everything from him, and now he will do the same to you. Please-"

"Jessie?" he asked, incredulously. With her being dressed in civilian clothes, and with a hoody hiding most of her face, Ash hadn't recognized her at first.

The hold on his arm tightened, and with her other hand she pulled away the hoodie, revealing her face. Nausea rose up at the sight of her face, because it was now covered with scars of recent burns, angry red stripes, and the empty eye socket glared blackly at him.

"What-?" he croaked, and the anxiousness disappeared from her face, being replaced by a distant look.

"Fire," she said. "An accident, they said, but I know better." She let out a dry laugh, devoid of any genuine humor. The cackling stopped as soon as it had started, and her eye turned to him once again. "James and Meowth are dead. He'll have my head too, soon, especially now I've talked to you."

"Jessie-"

"No, listen to me, little twerp," she interrupted him, no annoyance hidden behind the old nickname, "Leave while you still can, okay?"

Before he could reply, her fingers dug further in his arm, pulling his attention back to her.

"_Please_," she urged him, pain written on her face as she gave him an intense stare, "Leave. For them."

She released him, and before he was able to say anything else, she was gone, disappearing in the crowd as quickly as she had appeared.

That had been several months ago. And still, he had only left when it had been already too late.

* * *

In hindsight, he supposed it was stupid to think that a ten years old boy would get away with destroying a huge criminal organization without there being any kind of retribution. At that time, he had never realized in what danger he had been, and only later he had been hit with the seriousness of his situation and had seen how lucky he had been.

Ten years after the fact, he had considered himself safe. So when the first… _events_ had started to occur, he had not thought any more of them than just a horrible stroke of bad luck.

It had started with Professor Oak, Tracey, Gary and his mother. It had been a simple research trip for the three men, safe and sunny and with beautiful nature, and Professor Oak had invited Delia to come along.

Ash had been happy for them, really. It was good that those two had each other now, even if they still hadn't admitted it out loud, and even if it did make him sort of related to Gary.

Arceus, how childish his worries had been back then. Being related to Gary… Mew, what he would give just to see Gary again.

But he would never see him again. Just like he would never see his mother again, or Professor Oak, or Tracey.

The official story was that they had gotten lost during their trip. For a long time, Ash had believed it. He had no reasons to doubt it after all, though of course he had been worried. But Gary and Tracey, and even Professor Oak, were experienced travelers, they would be able to take care of his mother. They had their Pokémon, and a search party had been sent out.

However, the disappearance of a renowned Pokémon Professor and his companions became just a minor issue when-

Swallowing down the feelings that threatened to rise again, Ash forced himself to focus on the task at hand. Crouched down, his back pressed against the cool steel wall, and with only the soft hum of the fluorescent tubes around him, he was making his way through the long, empty corridors.

He was doing this for them.

Brock, Clemont, Iris, Cilan, Bonnie, Chili, Cress, Daisy, Violet, Lily-

Gone. All of them, gone. In just mere seconds, his friends were gone, blown to bloodied bits and pieces, crushed and burned.

It had been over the news for months. A huge-scale terrorist attack on the annual Gym Leaders gatherings. All the League officials, members of the Elite Four, Champions and Gym Leaders, all across the regions, brought together and destroyed.

It had required long and extensive planning, to be able to place the bombs there, and to activate them at the exact same time. But then again, Giovanni had proved to be a patient and thorough man, if he had been able to wait ten years to get his revenge on the boy who had destroyed his organization.

Back then, when he had first heard the news about the attack, Ash hadn't thought about Giovanni. Had believed the news about the terrorists, had been too busy grieving and mourning his lost friends, hadn't thought himself to be important enough to be the cause of this disaster.

But he was. This was all his fault. Giovanni's wicked, twisted mind had thought this all up, just to get back at him.

Even Misty's car's breakdown, preventing her from reaching the Kanto Gym Leader gathering and thus making her the sole surviving Gym Leader, had been planned.

It had taken May's death to realize someone was out to get him.

Fallen to death from a twenty-stories building. Suicide, they said. Hadn't been able to cope with her parents' death in the terrorist attack.

But Ash knew May. She wouldn't do something like that. She would never abandon Max like that.

When Jessie had warned him, his worst fears had been confirmed. It wasn't just _someone _out to get him, it was Giovanni. And he worked with utmost subtlety, so that no one, no one but Ash, would be able to connect the deaths.

And Ash was completely unable to help his friends. All he could do was to stop talking to them, hoping his indifference towards them would save their lives. Maybe he did save some lives, from old acquaintances as Harrison and Cameron. He couldn't be sure, too afraid to get in contact with them and sign their death warrant.

But others he hadn't been able to save.

Dawn, found raped and murdered in a faraway forest by 'just another madman' as the police had said, and when the research was unable to come up with more leads, the case had been closed.

Max, gotten into a wrong crowd after the deaths of his parents and sister, and died from drug overdose.

Serena, died after a Ryhorn riding accident.

Stephan, found dead in his tent; research proved he died from eating poisonous plants.

Trip, caught in an avalanche and died from subsequent exposure to the cold.

Ritchie, struck by a sickness doctors were unable to cure.

Barry, jumped in a hot spring to save a Pokémon, but was cooked to death himself.

Bianca, caught in a forest fire.

Paul, crushed by rolling rocks during a mountain trip.

Morrison, died from carbon monoxide poisoning in his sleep.

More names came to mind, more unbelievable 'accidents', more deaths because of him. But without proof, the police was powerless, and so was he. The only thing he had been able to do was cutting ties with everyone.

And he had done that to the extreme. He had stopped talking to anyone, hadn't come out of his house anymore, except to gather the necessities to survive. He had released his Pokémon a long time ago, even though he had had to force some to leave. Only Pikachu had stayed, no matter how much he had begged it to go.

Just like Misty.

"I'm dead anyway," she had told him calmly, arms crossed. "They know we're close, I'd rather spend my last few days with you than holed up alone in my room."

Despite knowing she was probably right, he had felt selfish for keeping her with him while he knew she was in danger. But, he reasoned, she had known that as well and she had decided to stay.

So that's how it had been, when he had finally followed Jessie's advice and had left. Misty, Pikachu and him fleeing for Giovanni, spending their days huddled up in small caves, hidden in forests and sleeping in empty buildings.

Somehow he had found it strangely peaceful after the turmoil of fear, grief and hate he had been stuck in before. That wasn't to say that he hadn't been afraid during their time as refugees, or that he hadn't grieved for his dead friends – because he had been afraid and he had grieved, perhaps even more than before.

But, still, it had been peaceful. And as the days passed on, as they slowly turned into weeks, and as those weeks became months, Ash slowly, bit by bit, started to hope. Hope that they had lost Giovanni. That he had given up. That they would be safe. That this horrible rollercoaster ride would finally end.

Of course not.

Two months and three days since they left, the peaceful illusion of relative safety was shattered. They had been camping out in an unused building, filled with empty crates and other debris. Misty had been catching up on some sleep, while he had been boringly standing guard, drawing patterns in the dirt on the floor in an attempt to entertain himself.

Then she had screamed. Running into their makeshift bedroom, Ash was met with the sight he had dreaded most since he had found out about Giovanni being after him.

Misty, sprawled out on the concrete floor, a thin trail of blood seeping into her hair. The room suddenly became cramped, the air heavy, and it was weighing down on him, it was suffocating him. White noise buzzed in his ears as his eyes stared unseeingly, disbelievingly, at Misty's motionless body. Cold disbelief and despair clawed in his stomach, rising up and he opened his mouth to let it out in a scream when-

A groan. Misty's mouth opened a bit wider, and her chest heaved as she moaned again.

Warm relief flooded through his body. He felt much lighter, but his legs seemed to be made of jelly, and his knees gave out as he let out a sound that was a cross between a laugh and a sob. When he stretched out his hand to touch her, to assure himself that she was really alive, he was suddenly blocked by a booted leg.

It seemed that Giovanni had abandoned all attempts at subtlety, as the two men who were standing in front of him both had a red R emblazoned on their chest. Their narrow eyes glared down at his kneeled form, but they didn't make any attempt to hurt him. Instead, they turned away from him and focused their attention on Misty.

Adrenalin came back in full force. Ash jumped up, and without having to command it, Pikachu was already charging up for a Thunderbolt.

He shielded his eyes when Pikachu unleashed the energy, the air crackling with the furious electricity. That should be at least one down. Ash knew that Pikachu would've been careful not to hit Misty, so both the grunts being down was too much to hope for.

So, with that knowledge, he had expected to see all of them down. Or one. Or all still standing.

He hadn't expected to see them gone.

Not only they had managed to escape Pikachu's Thunderbolt – something that should've been impossible in such a small room – but they had also used it to escape. Rage, panic, desperation built inside him as he rushed outside, just in time to see a black car speeding past, and with his heart sinking, he realized that Misty was undoubtedly in that car.

It had taken him days to track the car down, to get where he was now. Yet he knew for sure it wasn't due to his own abilities that he had finally managed to find Giovanni's base – no, he had only found it because Giovanni wanted him to find it.

This was the big showdown. The game Giovanni had been playing with him for so long was ending. The game Ash had started himself.

But unlike last time, Ash wouldn't be able to win this one. He wouldn't be able to swipe away all of Giovanni's pieces with luck and short, simple tactics like he did last time. He hadn't destroyed all the pieces – that was his mistake. He had left the king alive. And now the king had rebuilt his army, had moved his pieces into place without giving Ash a chance to make his own move, and forcing him to do what Giovanni wanted.

He never should've gotten involved with Team Rocket. _Always having to play the hero_, Ash reminded himself bitterly. Despite the odds being against him, he had somehow always managed to scrape out a victory. And now the tables had turned, and he found himself up against something too big for him to handle.

Why was evil so strong? This wasn't how his life was meant to play out. He had defeated Team Rocket, he was meant to have a happy safe life now! But he hadn't, and he would never have, and no one could help him.

Soundlessly he slid further down the corridors, unsure where exactly he was going but knowing he would end up in the right place anyway. That was how Giovanni had planned it after all.

Just him and Giovanni. The big showdown. But in reality, it wasn't just him, because Ash wasn't alone. Pikachu had of course come with him, refusing to even _think_ about staying behind. And besides, Ash wasn't completely without plan. He hoped that Giovanni hadn't thought of something this simple, this dangerous, hoped that Giovanni hadn't expected him to go to such great lengths.

A door. Cautiously, he neared it, and one hand softly touched the object hidden in his sleeve. Still there, good.

After he took another step closer to the door, it opened on its own account, revealing a brightly lit room, with in the middle-

Misty. Chained to the wall, her head hanging forward with dried blood on her face, and a cloth around her mouth preventing her from speaking. Her head snapped up when she heard him enter, and frantically she shook her head, her eyes wide in terror.

A trap. As if he hadn't expected that. But he continued onwards anyway, knowing there wouldn't be any other way to free Misty.

"Don't worry Mist, I'll get you out of here," he whispered, his fingers working on the knot of her cloth. Get her out of here, that was his plan. He didn't care what happened to him, she needed to get out of here. "Pikachu, use Iron Tail on those chains."

"It's a trap Ash!" she whispered hoarsely as soon as the cloth was removed from her mouth.

"Of course it is," he replied, a sudden feel of calm washing over him. This was it. No more hiding, no more fleeing, no more secrecy – this was it.

Pikachu was working hard on the chains, but the progress was only slow and minimal. Obviously the chains had been chosen specifically to resist Pokémon attacks like this. Nonetheless, with enough time, Ash didn't doubt Pikachu would manage to break them. But he was afraid that they wouldn't have enough time.

His fears were confirmed less than a second later. The door fell shut with a resounding clank.

"And so we meet again, Ash Ketchum," a voice behind him spoke up. Misty hissed in a breath and her eyes focused on something behind him, and Ash slowly, with forced calm, turned around to face the man.

In the brightly lit room, there was no hiding in the shadows. But perhaps that had been his intention, to show Ash with clarity there would be no hiding from him. The young man fought to swallow the lump that had formed in his throat as he carefully watched the man. He had to look up slightly, something unusual for him, being pretty tall himself, but where he was lanky, Giovanni was broad and squared. The dark hair was slicked back on his balding head, and his narrowed eyes were zoomed in on Ash.

"I must say that I'm disappointed in you," Giovanni continued, not fazed by Ash's lack of response. "After that trick you pulled ten years ago, I had imagined you would prove to be more of… a _challenge _to destroy."

Ash clenched his teeth, determined not to fall for Giovanni's taunting. He had always known that his defeat of the Team Rocket organization had been more luck than anything else. Unconsciously, he leaned further back to Misty and Pikachu, as if his closeness would protect them from Giovanni.

"After all, your accomplishment was rather unusual for someone so young…" he spoke slowly, hands clasped behind his back as he slowly advanced on Ash. "Rather impressive too, I admit. But then again, I should've expected that with your background."

He's taunting you, baiting you, trying to confuse you. Ignore ignore ignore. But it was increasingly hard not to listen to Giovanni's soft voice, drawling on about things he supposedly didn't know.

"Your mother was a smart woman to hide you. But I had always known she was intelligent – that was what drew me to her in the first place." If possible, Giovanni's eyes had narrowed even more as he watched Ash's face intently for any reaction.

Despite his utmost determination, Ash couldn't stop the questions from whirling in his mind. What was Giovanni talking about? Why was he talking about his mother? What did he know? He forced his face in an expression of neutrality, hoping to look disinterested and nonchalant, but he doubted he would be able to convince the criminal mastermind.

"Ah poor boy, she never-"

Giovanni's speech was interrupted by a loud clank and a soft sigh of relief from Misty as one wrist was released from the binders. His eyes flashed dangerously to the redhead, and Ash immediately moved further between them, forcing Giovanni's attention back to him.

In an attempt to buy more time and to distract him from Misty, Ash urged, with just the right amount of confusion and curiosity in his voice, "What did she never?"

He turned back to Ash, pausing momentarily before picking up where he had left. "She never told you, did she?"

He might as well go with distracting Giovanni for now. It might buy them some more time, so Pikachu could free Misty, so they could then- well, he'd see what they'd do after that. But Pikachu was getting tired from relentlessly using Iron Tail on the chains that refused to budge.

"What?" he asked, not able to completely ban the curiosity from his voice.

The corner of Giovanni's mouth turned up. "About your father."

The air suddenly felt thicker. Ash didn't know how to reply. When he had been younger, he had believed his mother's story about his father being a travelling Pokémon Trainer who would come back eventually, but as he grew older the story grew paler and more unbelievable. Whenever he had asked her, her answers had been evasive and she had changed the subject. Over time, Ash had learned to let it rest.

When no response came forward, Giovanni's quirked mouth turned into a full smirk.

"With your mother gone," he said, turning away from Ash to walk slowly across the room, "the only living person who would be able to tell you what happened to your father…"

He paused, turning around to face Ash again, and with a smile that could only be described as evil, he finished, "would be me."

"And what would you know?" Ash pressed, interested despite his attempts not to. Yet Giovanni being caught up in this little game of power was too good an opportunity to pass up, because the Team Rocket leader would be distracted and it would buy them more time. And then, just after Giovanni's little revelation, Ash would pull out the ace he still had up his sleeve.

He just hoped that his simple plan would work. It was so simple that he hoped Giovanni had overlooked it. But in dealing with this criminal brain, he wondered if 'hope' would be enough.

"He's still alive," Giovanni replied smoothly. "But he might not be if you decide to pull through with your plan. Put the gun away, Ash. For your father's sake."

Indeed, hope was not enough in dealing with Giovanni. Swiftly, Ash pulled the small gun out of his sleeve and aimed it at the man in front of him.

"You're lying," Ash stated calmly. "You don't know anything about my father."

Giovanni's smirk only grew at Ash's denial. "On the contrary, I know_ everything_ about your father."

Ash didn't reply, only gritted his teeth.

"And if you don't put that gun away," the man continued, "your father is in grave danger… and we wouldn't want that, now, would we?"

"Ash, he's playing you!" Misty finally spoke up, hissing her warning from behind him. "Don't listen to him!"

But Ash wasn't so sure anymore. Blood pounded in his ears, in rhythm with the clanks of Pikachu's Iron Tail attack, and he stared at Giovanni, trying to find some sort of sign to know whether the man was lying or not.

He could not trust him, of course he couldn't. But the odd chance that his father… That his father was still alive, that he was in danger, that only Ash could protect him…

"Where is he?" Ash finally demanded, the forced calm falling away.

"In this building."

Lifting his hand and pulling away the fabric of his sleeve, Giovanni revealed a watch-like device.

"Do you know what this is?" he inquired, dark enjoyment visible in his eyes.

Ash shook his head mutely. He couldn't care less about Giovanni and his evil games. If his father was here…

"This device measures my blood pulse. If, for whatever reason, it wouldn't be able to sense my pulse anymore, it will send a signal towards a bomb hidden in this building, and… well, you'll be able to guess what will happen then, hm?"

The meaning of Giovanni's statement was clear, and it hit Ash like a sack of stones. He could never kill Giovanni. If he did, this whole building would blow up, not only killing his father – if he was here in the first place – but also Misty and Pikachu.

A loud clank cut through the air. Ash turned his head, just in time to see Misty pull herself free from the chains. With a soft sigh, Pikachu momentarily collapsed in Misty's waiting arms.

"Thank you," she murmured to the Pokémon. Locking eyes with him, she said, "Ash, let's leave, please."

"You can't leave already," Giovanni interrupted, mocking them. "The party was just about to get started. And you're the main guests."

Ash turned back to him, his hand tightening around the gun. "Quit playing games, Giovanni. What do you want from me?"

"Very well," the man replied after a pause. From the inside of his jacket, he pulled out a small device, that somewhat resembled a remote control, with various colored buttons. He held it out for Ash to take. "For you."

Cautiously, the gun still aimed on its target, Ash took it from him. Eight differently colored buttons glanced up to him from the otherwise sleek black device. "What do you want me to do with it?"

"For each button you press, you save the life of one of your loved ones," Giovanni spoke. "One for our dear Misty, one for little Pikachu, and one for your old man."

"Oh please, you don't really expect us to believe you got us here just so Ash could push some buttons, eh?" Misty burst out. The tension of the situation was getting to her, and her hands tightened around Ash's arm and Pikachu's body respectively.

"They aren't just 'some buttons', miss Waterflower," Giovanni said, glancing over at her. "Each of those buttons will activate a bomb and that will destroy everything and everyone in its vicinity. As for the locations of the bombs…" His smile grew. "Think of places like malls, schools and stadiums."

"You're sick," Ash spat, all color drained from his face. "You want me to kill hundreds of people!"

"Thousands…" Giovanni corrected him, his lips pulled back in something that once resembled a smile. "To save your best friend… to save your Pokémon… and to save your father…"

The gun was trembling in Ash's hand, still pointing at Giovanni. His other hand was clenched around the remote control, cold sweat making his grip slip.

"Pika, pikapikachu!" the Pokémon said panicked, while Misty shook her head frantically. "No Ash, don't do it, we aren't worth that! No one is, don't do it!"

He didn't reply, his eyes focused on the control in his hand. His father, Misty, Pikachu… He couldn't let them die. He couldn't live without them. It was selfish, so freakingly selfish, but he really couldn't. He had lost so much already, he was allowed to be selfish now, right? He deserved it!

"I can't let you guys get killed," he said, his voice sounded oddly detached to him.

"Ash, no! Don't even think about it!" Misty's eyes were wide in fear and panic. "Your father wouldn't want this!"

"You don't know what my father wants!" he snapped, more harshly than he had intended.

"You don't know either!" Misty said furiously. Her voice softened as she continued, "Ash, no, please… I don't want to live knowing hundreds have died for me…"

"But I don't want to live without you either…" Ash's words were spoken so quietly that Misty almost didn't hear them. Almost.

"Then don't." She stared at him intently, her mouth set in a determined line, but her eyes soft and wet.

He knew what she meant. The other solution. But his heart was screaming no, he had to protect them! He had to! He couldn't let them die! Not Misty, not Pikachu! He couldn't live without them!

But he didn't really have to if he put his plan into action, he thought bitterly. He knew he couldn't activate the bombs, knew he couldn't kill the innocents for the lives of his loved ones. Besides, a logical thought whispered to him, there was no guarantee that Giovanni would keep his side of the deal anyway.

Still, there was that selfish bit of him again, claiming that if he was going to give up Misty and Pikachu and his father, he had a right to know about that last one. If he knew about his father, he could die, he decided. He deserved that last wish.

"Where is my father?" Ash finally addressed Giovanni again.

He raised his eyebrows at the question already asked and answered, but repeated his answer nonetheless. "Like I said, he is in this building."

"Captured?" Misty suddenly asked, and Giovanni turned to her with a dangerous glint in his eyes.

"You're a smart girl, aren't you?" He paused, as if choosing the right words, then answered, "Your father is here of his own free will."

"He's a member of Team Rocket," Ash said, his throat suddenly dry. Unbidden, unwanted, another thought arose to him.

"_That was what drew me to her in the first place."_

"_He's still alive. But he might not be if you decide to pull through with your plan. Put the gun away, Ash."_

"_I know _everything _about your father."_

"Oh yes," Giovanni said, "he most definitely-"

BANG!

Mouth slightly open, Giovanni stared at the small, black encircled hole in his suit, the red slowly spreading around it, and then to Ash. Staring at Ash's shocked face, his lips pulled back in a feral grin as he forced out his last words.

"I win… son."

One more ragged breath, and then Giovanni's body fell to the floor with a resounding finality.

A moment of silence, two thuds as the gun and the controls fell to the ground, a sob from Ash. He turned back to Misty, saw her pale face and the knowledge of their impending deaths written on it, and took her in a protective embrace, Pikachu squeezed in between.

Perhaps, a desperate thought in the back of his mind whispered, would his body protect her against the explosion, and would she and Pikachu make it out.

Any moment now.

Misty buried her face in his shoulder, Pikachu was crushed between them as her arms pulled him closer, and silence reigned. Then words spilled from his mouth, a waterfall of i'm sorry's and i love you's and other nonsense that wasn't even words.

The lights flickered out, and they drew in a collective gasp. Misty's arms tightened around him, and Ash clenched his eyes shut, expecting the final blow any moment.

More silence. A soft hum. Slowly, Ash opened his eyes, and saw the lights had turned back on.

He blinked in confusion, finding his expression mirrored in the faces of his companions. For several more moments they stood like that, arms still around each other, staring and waiting.

"Why isn't anything happening?" Misty finally asked, her voice a hoarse whisper.

"I don't know," Ash said, slowly loosening his grip on his friends, and feeling Misty do the same.

"Maybe he isn't dead yet," Misty suggested. Ash clenched his teeth together, and holding their breath, they listened. But besides the humming of the fluorescent tubes and the loud pounding of the blood in his ears, there wasn't any sound to be heard.

No labored breathing, no moaning, no moving… nothing.

Ash's arms slid back to his sides, and Pikachu, slightly recovered from the effort to break Misty's chains, jumped on his shoulder. Misty's hand grabbed his, and he slowly pulled her with him towards Giovanni's body.

The blood had stopped flowing, and had colored the front of Giovanni's suit a dark red. His head was lolled back, his eyes closed. When Ash kneeled down, Misty's hand slid out of his hand and up his arm, then came to rest on his shoulder.

His hand trembled a bit as he reached for Giovanni's wrist. The skin was warm, and Ash willed the numbness in his fingers to go away so he could be sure the man was dead.

They waited. Time seemed to slow. He had to count the seconds to be sure time was actually passing..

After fifty-three seconds he still hadn't felt anything, but he refused to speak. Not yet.

Sixty-eight.

"I don't feel anything." His voice sounded foreign to himself, sounding stronger than he was and easily breaking the silence into tiny shards.

"Yes. He's dead."

"And we're alive," Ash murmured, his voice breaking at the implications of the statement. Giovanni dead. They were alive. They could escape the room, escape the building, escape this- They could live, safely.

Still kneeling, Ash turned to look at Misty, a grin slowly forming on his face. Her eyes shone, happiness radiating from her face.

"I can't believe-"

The door wooshed open. Ash snapped his head around, jumping up. A Team Rocket grunt stood in the doorway. He inhaled sharply, his eyes roaming over the floor. The gun! Where was it?!

Desperately, his eyes flashed back to the grunt, only to find himself staring right into the friendly face of his mother. His very much alive mother, despite wearing that Team Rocket uniform.

Ash completely froze, all the adrenalin from before suddenly gone, his mind unable to keep up with the sudden turn of events. His mother's smiling face didn't fit with the Team Rocket uniform, Ash thought vaguely, being only used to evil sneers going with the clothes.

"My boy," she whispered, and just like that, everything left of Ash's brave façade was gone. He ran forward and flew himself into his mother's arms, the mother he had thought to be gone, whom he had hoped for, been afraid for and had grieved for.

And now she was back.

He couldn't do it anymore. He couldn't pretend to hold it together anymore, couldn't pretend to be in charge of the situation, couldn't pretend he wasn't afraid. He didn't know what words he bawled, but that didn't matter anyway, all that mattered were the soothing words and the warm embrace. Pikachu's warmth had settled against his neck, trying to comfort its master, and after some time, Ash felt Misty's arm resting on his back too. He pulled her into the hug, tears of happiness flowing from his eyes and gibberish from his mouth.

For an unknown amount of time they stood like that, the four of them united on an island of warmth and comfort in the cold room.

"What happened?" Ash croaked, when he was finally able to form coherent words again.

"The bomb is deactivated," Delia replied, pulling away a bit so she could look them in the eyes. "You're safe now."

"How?" Misty asked.

"I did it," the older woman said. At the sight of their confused expressions, she elaborated, "Giovanni has held me captive in this building for several months – it was only a matter of time before he would slip up and I would be able to make my escape. That moment just happened to be today. And I knew of the plan. Giovanni is a proud man, one of his many flaws, and he loves boasting about his plans. As I was a prisoner, he thought it was safe enough to tell me, but obviously, it was not."

Misty cracked a grin, but Ash had turned his face away to look at Giovanni's body. Silence stretched on as Delia waited for her son to say something.

"…my father?" The first part of the sentence was lost in his mumbling, but the gist of the question was clear enough.

"I'm sorry Ash," she said, her voice broken. "And I'm sorry that I never told you earlier. But your father…" She took a breath. "Your father is dead."

More silence. Pikachu nuzzled against Ash's neck and Misty's hand tightened on his back, but he felt neither.

"Did I kill him?"

Delia blinked. "What?"

"Did I kill my father?" Ash's voice was loud, harsh.

Delia finally seemed to put two and two together, and she firmly grabbed Ash's both sides of his head, turning it and forcing him to look at her.

"No Ash, listen to me, Giovanni is not your father, okay?" Her voice sounded almost pleading, as if she was begging him not to believe it.

Ash didn't make any attempt at a reply, and with an internal sigh, Delia resigned herself to having to explain the whole story. The whole story she had worked so hard to keep secret from her son, to keep him safe. But that had hardly worked, hadn't it?

A wry smile appeared on her face at that thought. She took a breath, trying to distance herself from the painful story of her past life. Her voice came out rushed and strangely intonated when she finally spoke.

"I was born into a poor and messed-up family, and being young and stupid, I joined Team Rocket. I had great ambitions and I quickly climbed up in the ranks. I caught Giovanni's eye and we soon became… lovers, for lack of a better word.

"As Giovanni's girlfriend, I had many privileges within and outside the organization, and for some time, everything went well. But soon, I grew unhappy under Giovanni's oppressive thumb, and sought to find escape. I found that escape in your father.

"He was a Pokémon trainer, always happy, always goofing off and playing the hero. You're a lot like him, Ash." Delia gazed in his eyes, pausing her story for a moment when too much emotion was seeping in her voice.

"He helped me escape Team Rocket, but Giovanni killed him for it. Giovanni found out I was pregnant, but believed the baby to be his own child. I never corrected him, believing you would be safer this way. I went into hiding, starting a new life with a new name, preserving our safety.

"It went well for a long time. I believe he only found out about our relation when he did his research for his revenge on you." She took a deep breath, unable to control her emotions any longer. Pulling Ash back in the hug, she exclaimed, "Oh honey, I'm so sorry you had to go through all of this! I'm so sorry, Ash, it's all my fault!"

It took Delia several moments to collect herself again, all while Ash was standing stock-still and unresponsive in her hug.

"So Giovanni is not my father?" he finally asked, looking for that last confirmation.

"No Ash, he isn't," his mother responded, some sort of relief in her voice.

"Who is?"

"Fred," she said, after some silence. "His name was Fred."

Ash was still silent, contemplating all the new information.

"So Delia Ketchum is not your real name?" he asked, and with his head resting on her shoulder, he was unable to see the hurt flashing across his mother's face.

"It isn't," she confirmed, after a short pause to draw in some breath.

"What is?"

"Is it really important?" Delia asked, and at the sound of her voice Ash pulled away to look at her face. The hurt was visible, and with some shock Ash realized the other implications of her story. She had been a high ranking criminal in Team Rocket, meaning that she hadn't only stolen Pokémon, but had probably done much worse. Had kidnapped people, tortured them, killed-

But she was still his mother.

"No," he decided. "It isn't."

A watery smile appeared on his mother's face, and her arms tightened around him.

"Thank you," she whispered.

They hugged again, but somehow this hug seemed more intimate, more emotionally loaded, and Misty glanced away from the mother and son. When she looked back, Delia was once again the woman in control.

"And now," she said, straightening up and releasing Ash, "it's time to go home."

They all nodded in unison and turned to the door. As if to emphasize his mother's statement, Ash nodded again, his jaw set and his eyes glimmering in determination.

"Yes," he said, with anew found strength, "Let's go home."

* * *

**A/N:** Thank you for reading! I hope you liked it. I did, for some parts. Other parts are more meh in my opinion. But I got to try out some new things with this story, and that was fun. Anyway, please tell me what you thought about it! Any corrections, tips and whatever else you can think of are welcome!  
Thank you!


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